ReSPECT shortlisted for national award

HSJ Award shortlist

An innovative project which has seen EEAST join forces with health and care partners to make it easier for patients to record their treatment preferences has been shortlisted for a prestigious HSJ award.

Called ReSPECT (Recommended Summary Plan for Emergency Care and Treatment), the scheme encourages people to think about the clinical care they would like to receive, including CPR, before recording their preferences in case of an emergency.

It has been rolled out by the Norfolk and Waveney Health and Care Partnership, of which EEAST is a member, and shortlisted in the “System Leadership Initiative of the Year” category. It was chosen as a finalist for demonstrating ambition and visionary spirit, as well as for the positive impact it is having on both patient and staff experience.

ReSPECT creates personalised recommendations for a person’s clinical care and treatment in the event of an emergency, where they may be unable to make or express their own choices to the professionals who are treating and caring for them.

It includes information on a person’s resuscitation status and replaces multiple types of documentation with a single patient-held form, in turn standardising the way information is captured while providing a recognised form wherever an emergency occurs.

“We are delighted to have been shortlisted for this prestigious award,” said Gita Prasad, Deputy Director of Business and Partnerships with EEAST, who helped drive the project. “Rolling out ReSPECT has been a truly collaborative effort, combining clinical expertise from across the area with an ambitious patient engagement programme. 

“Our work on ReSPECT comes from a desire to bring choice and dignity to people making decisions at a difficult time in their lives. Its introduction means that people in Norfolk and Waveney can now benefit from a standardised approach to the way clinical recommendations for their emergency care and treatment are documented, as well as a renewed focused on important conversations about priorities for care.

“ReSPECT will also give our crews easier access to vital information about an individual’s treatment preferences, which may influence whether a conveyance to hospital is the right response to their particular wishes and needs.”

The HSJ will hold a virtual award ceremony in March. For more information, click here.

Published 8th January 2021